Photo Courtesy of Dr.Richard Robbin
By Elle McMahon
The UW-Superior A Capella and Chamber choirs have been busy with international travel this winter along with gearing up for the spring semester concerts.
The University Music Department have two choirs, A Capella, which has nearly 50 students, and a smaller Chamber ensemble, which has nine students. These two choirs preform two or three times a semester with concerts with the universities chamber orchestra and even the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra in the past.
Dr. Richard Robbins, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral activities, has been on the UWS campus since Fall of 2014 but has already seen substantial growth in the choirs over the last few years. With a little chuckle he said, “I love choir, and everyone should join the choir.”
The choir went on a trip to Poland this J-Term where they performed in Warsaw and Krakow at cathedrals and different churches. In addition to preforming in Poland, the choir also toured historical sites including a Chopin museum, Chopin University, and Auschwitz. Regarding Auschwitz, Brady McDonough, a junior in the choir said, “There was literally a haze of death. It was a very heavy experience and absolutely everyone should experience and understand it.”
Dr. Robbins is also heading the reaccreditation of the music department this semester. Accredited universities have to become reaccredited every ten years. He explained that it is a, “real badge of honor,” to be accredited by the National Schools of Music. One of the benefits of being an accredited university is that students from UWS in the music department can be accepted into graduate schools for music.
The choirs are having a concert on Tuesday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Thorpe Langley auditorium where the A Capella will perform “5 Mystical Songs”, by Vonghan Williams. The Chamber Choir will be preforming music from the German romantic era.
